Girl Power!

[Libramarian]

I'm a "scientist"

Your quotation marks need quotation marks. You're as much a scientist as a little kid playing doctor is a physician.

 

[Summer-Knight925]

Something has already happened, sadly it spelt disaster for the experiment.

The girls didn't all like eachother, they won't game with eachother.

I find this a bit humorous AND a bit of something....


Girls, on average and on what I have seen, hold grudges differently then men do, perhaps again based upon society? I do not know. What I do know is that they don't like someone because of X and can't get past it, therefore will not sit at a table with them. I have rarely seen this with men, although I have seen it (more than once) and yeah...not sure what to make of this, as of now I am uncertain of what is next.

I am possibly going to reach, possibly even mix in men, as a sort of control in the game, see if girls act any different, blah blah blah, something. I still want to try.

And I should put out another disclaimer...

**NOTE: I AM NOT AN ACTUAL SCIENTISTS, I DO NOT HAVE A DEGREE IN ANYTHING OR ANY MORE SCHOOLING IN THIS SUBJECT MATTER THAN A HIGHSCHOOL PHYSCHOLOGY CLASS AND A HIGH SCHOOL SOCIOLOGY CLASS. I AM DOING THIS MOSTLY FOR FUN, PERHAPS AS THE TESTER, ALLOWING WHAT INFORMATION I FIND TO BE LOOKED OVER BY ACTUAL SCIENTISTS.**

I will post further information as it develops.

 

[Libramarian]

Well now I am finding this thread sort of endearingly nerdy.


There are serious methodological problems with your experiment, but I think you should do it anyway and learn through mistakes.

Good luck with it.

 

[TanithT]

So you are limiting the parameters to females under 18? If you really mean women, you might actually want to say so. Or if you're open to both girls and women, you can say that. But "girls" is not a great designation to use for adult women, though some will be more okay with that term than others.

 

[Elf Witch]

Something has already happened, sadly it spelt disaster for the experiment.

The girls didn't all like eachother, they won't game with eachother.

I find this a bit humorous AND a bit of something....


Girls, on average and on what I have seen, hold grudges differently then men do, perhaps again based upon society? I do not know. What I do know is that they don't like someone because of X and can't get past it, therefore will not sit at a table with them. I have rarely seen this with men, although I have seen it (more than once) and yeah...not sure what to make of this, as of now I am uncertain of what is next.

I am possibly going to reach, possibly even mix in men, as a sort of control in the game, see if girls act any different, blah blah blah, something. I still want to try.

And I should put out another disclaimer...

**NOTE: I AM NOT AN ACTUAL SCIENTISTS, I DO NOT HAVE A DEGREE IN ANYTHING OR ANY MORE SCHOOLING IN THIS SUBJECT MATTER THAN A HIGHSCHOOL PHYSCHOLOGY CLASS AND A HIGH SCHOOL SOCIOLOGY CLASS. I AM DOING THIS MOSTLY FOR FUN, PERHAPS AS THE TESTER, ALLOWING WHAT INFORMATION I FIND TO BE LOOKED OVER BY ACTUAL SCIENTISTS.**

I will post further information as it develops.

How old are these female players?

I actually think these girls are smart it is not fun to sit down and play a game with people you don't like. Why would you want to spend time with a person you don't like who you cant get away from.

 

[TanithT]

**NO PART OF THIS THREAD OR EXPERIMENT IS MEANT TO BE SEXIST IN ANY WAY. NOR IS IT AT ALL MEANT TO BE BIAS TOWARDS THE LGBT COMMUNITY. THIS IS AN EXPERIMENT I AM RUNNING ON WILLING WOMEN TO TEST HOW SOCIETY SHAPES THE INDIVIDUAL. IF YOU FIND ANY MORAL ISSUES WITH THIS PLEASE LET ME KNOW.**

No moral issues. Minor language issue, unless all your female friends are younger than you and under 18.

A subtle issue, not so much right or wrong, as something to think about. Do you believe that females are so different from males based on their gender alone that you would find meaningful differences in the play styles around one table that apply to all females?

Do you find that there is such a thing as a male play style? Or do the guys you know handle their characters differently depending on what kind of character they're playing and their individual preferences?

Sure, there's different kinds of socialization, and with a large enough sample you might find some interesting differences in gendered styles of handling conflict. But you'd need a very large sample to see those, I suspect, because women's play styles are as likely to differ on an individual basis as men's will.

You have your hack and slashers, your min/maxers, your power gamers, your roleplayers, your peacemakers, your sneaky/clever types, etc. You'll see all of those in both genders. What the overall statistics will boil down to is hard to say; I suspect you'd eventually be able to count more women as conflict negotiators than hack and slashers, but there are plenty of women who enjoy playing bloodthirsty barbarians. It's a game, yo. It's not real life.

By taking the "unlikely gamers" (a term fairly improper considering many gamer girls are out there and probably reading) and putting them at a table, sitting them down, and throwing challenges that tend to be masculine in nature, I intend to see if they handle differently than a man would.

Both gamer girls and gamer women are indeed reading, thank you.

How are your challenges masculine in nature? Do they involve fathering a child? If not, I'm at a loss to figure out how the challenge of getting across a chasm or fighting a monster or disarming a trap could be characterized as either masculine or feminine. It's just there, and your gender is less a factor than wanting to survive the dungeon.

Also, please take a look at what you just wrote. If you are considering male gamers to be men and female gamers to be girls, please consider the status discrepancy between those two terms. It's fine if the girls are actually children - that's what the word means - but it can be a power, status and maturity separator if you are saying "men and girls" about people of roughly the same age.

In the disclaimer I mentioned the LGBT community, one of the players is transgender and while s(he) identifies more as a male, does infact have female parts, this too is interesting and worthy of note taking, as can even a transgender feel gender roles from his or her upbringing?

Absolutely, a transgendered person can, and in some ways they have a pretty unique perspective on how it feels to be socialized into a gender role they don't feel that they actually belong in. Thank you for being inclusive at your gaming table, and please remember to identify the transman as "he" and to treat him and consider him to be male, unless he tells you that he prefers to identify in some other way, perhaps as genderfluid or gender neutral. In that case, ask what pronoun he prefers.

If you are considering a transman, regardless of his state of physical transition, to be one of the 'girls' for the sake of a study on how 'girls' behave, that isn't workable. He isn't a girl, whether or not he was initially socialized like one. Please respect this.

As a side note (and an exception to a house rule) they will be allowed to choose either male or female characters (normally male players cannot chose female characters at my table).

Why? And do you also normally limit women from choosing male characters?

The point of gaming for me, whether as a player or a GM, is to tell compelling interactive stories. As a writer, my characters may be male or female; it depends on the story I want to tell. Being limited to telling the stories of only one gender would make gaming no fun for me. Also it would make me think the GM had weird gender issues and thought of the game as more than a story with characters, or more than just a game that anyone can play.

I am not my character. My character is my character. He or she is not me. I am telling a story and playing a game. People who confuse the game with real life creep me out, and I don't want to play with them.

 

[Summer-Knight925]

No moral issues. Minor language issue, unless all your female friends are younger than you and under 18.

A subtle issue, not so much right or wrong, as something to think about. Do you believe that females are so different from males based on their gender alone that you would find meaningful differences in the play styles around one table that apply to all females?
[QUOTE/]
No, actually I have this feeling it will be no different, HOWEVER, the question arose in a class of mine and it was stated (by a girl, young girl nonetheless) that the reasons girl's don't play games like that is because "they think different".
If anything, the girls would get more graphic. I had a group with 2 girls in it (two I was hoping to participate in this, but it fell through) and they wrote a "If we find the princess" plan. It was more sexual than I think any guy could ever write such a thing. Needless to say I just wanted to prove that we're all really the same one the dice get rolling and the fireballs flying.

Do you find that there is such a thing as a male play style? Or do the guys you know handle their characters differently depending on what kind of character they're playing and their individual preferences?
[QUOTE/]

Sort of, it is more based on the gender roles society places on us, the crude humor, brutal language, quickness to jump into battle, things branded "male" for sad reasons.

Sure, there's different kinds of socialization, and with a large enough sample you might find some interesting differences in gendered styles of handling conflict. But you'd need a very large sample to see those, I suspect, because women's play styles are as likely to differ on an individual basis as men's will.
[QUOTE/]
Pretty much, this little project was just to be able to say "well in MY findings" and get people to be quiet. If anything, the draw of women and gaming is awesome, and many don't (at first) see everything there is.
Allow me to be a tad sexist to make a point, this only really applies to the cliche young women who participate in the cheersquad.

-At first level, you spend money to outfit your character, this is no different then when you go to the mall, it is just instead of finding a pair of shoes, you get a sword.
-Finding treasure is awesome, the +1 ring is more than just an armor boost, my character (and I am male) does accessorize with magic items.
-We all like to party, tavern's are just a friend's house that his parents will never come home, so why not go hit on the opposite gender? Both men and women do that!
-When fighting monsters, remember, you're protecting the world, I mean...if you believe in maternal instincts, what is more 'maternal' then protecting against a dragon? (assuming the PC is a mother or something)
-Adventuring is like camping, and camping with the other gender is always a treat, especially when you get to see them perform deeds of might, nothing would make me warm on the surface of my chainshirt than seeing a lovely lady disembowel a Vrock.

You have your hack and slashers, your min/maxers, your power gamers, your roleplayers, your peacemakers, your sneaky/clever types, etc. You'll see all of those in both genders. What the overall statistics will boil down to is hard to say; I suspect you'd eventually be able to count more women as conflict negotiators than hack and slashers, but there are plenty of women who enjoy playing bloodthirsty barbarians. It's a game, yo. It's not real life.
[QUOTE/]
I too see this, but we must also remember (and again, not trying to be sexist or crude or mean, this is just something I had experience, and it gave me 15 XP seeing it) is that there is a time of the month, and during this time of the month, she doesn't care if its a cute little pixie or an ugly troll, if there is chocolate to be had, whatever is in the way is dying, then back to cuddling with the familiar. (most of what you just read is based on tumblr posts about what a girl experiences, excuse me if this upset you, I was sort of trying to make a funny about mood swings due to physiology

Both gamer girls and gamer women are indeed reading, thank you.
[QUOTE/]
Oh I try, your welcome, tehe

How are your challenges masculine in nature? Do they involve fathering a child? If not, I'm at a loss to figure out how the challenge of getting across a chasm or fighting a monster or disarming a trap could be characterized as either masculine or feminine. It's just there, and your gender is less a factor than wanting to survive the dungeon.
[QUOTE/]
again, I am basing this off of what popculture dictates, as there "chick flicks" and "girly things" so too are there "brofilms" and "boy things"
it is not actually dictating anything whatsoever with gender, as there are tomgirls and whatever derogatory name you wish to call a boy who likes ponies (brony comes to mind)
Most of them are more of what you would expect to see in an action flick, the terms I used are fairly inaccurate, think more of 'What would Conan do?' type moments, as I would find him to be very testosterone fueled. Again, the actual task is something gross or dirty, something a cliche young woman or adolescent girl would say "eeewww" about, that's where I'm going with that. Think of little kids, I have 2 younger cousins, they are brother and sister, ages 3 and 5.
The boy, age 3, plays in the dirt with his army men (that's how you know we're related). he came in all dirty and his sister, age 5, said 'eew, you're all dirty!.' he was hardly dirty.

Also, please take a look at what you just wrote. If you are considering male gamers to be men and female gamers to be girls, please consider the status discrepancy between those two terms. It's fine if the girls are actually children - that's what the word means - but it can be a power, status and maturity separator if you are saying "men and girls" about people of roughly the same age.
[QUOTE/]
sorry, i'm use to saying boys and girls, I just graduated highschool and found boys and girls to be easier on my vocal chords, most of them are either 17 or 18, something like that, so woman is more appropriate, but it's just how I talk, it never has really offended any of them, but I apologize if it offended you, twas not my intent.

Absolutely, a transgendered person can, and in some ways they have a pretty unique perspective on how it feels to be socialized into a gender role they don't feel that they actually belong in. Thank you for being inclusive at your gaming table, and please remember to identify the transman as "he" and to treat him and consider him to be male, unless he tells you that he prefers to identify in some other way, perhaps as genderfluid or gender neutral. In that case, ask what pronoun he prefers.

If you are considering a transman, regardless of his state of physical transition, to be one of the 'girls' for the sake of a study on how 'girls' behave, that isn't workable. He isn't a girl, whether or not he was initially socialized like one. Please respect this.
[QUOTE/]
I do respect this, I asked him and we came to the conclusion that it can add another level to this, to say that it isn't ONLY people like him or that all these girls were actually lesbians, which is irrelevant to the point. It deals more with how what our sexual organs are and how society says we should act based on that. It has nothing to do with orientation or how someone feels, it is about what society tells us to do based on things we can't control.

Why? And do you also normally limit women from choosing male characters?
[QUOTE/]
No, I just don't normally have female players, but I do limit males to playing only males, since no man would really be able to understand what it's like to have monthly cycles, fear of rape, ect. ect. the list goes on. It's a limit on me, since the last thing I want is crude sexual puns between two guys because one is a girl, it's a fear that the guys I know are not mature enough to handle the responsibility of being a woman, hope that isn't offensive...

The point of gaming for me, whether as a player or a GM, is to tell compelling interactive stories. As a writer, my characters may be male or female; it depends on the story I want to tell. Being limited to telling the stories of only one gender would make gaming no fun for me. Also it would make me think the GM had weird gender issues and thought of the game as more than a story with characters, or more than just a game that anyone can play.

I am not my character. My character is my character. He or she is not me. I am telling a story and playing a game. People who confuse the game with real life creep me out, and I don't want to play with them.

It's not about that, it's just something my dad did when I started playing, it's like seating people in marching order if possible or no juggling at the table (actually, that's a fun story...but for later!mwhahaha)

I play females npcs, it's just a thing we do, since I started playing, again, I just don't know if some of the male players are mature enough for that, when I know the female players would do that (the dirty dungeon if you catch my drift) either way (male character or female character).

 

[Summer-Knight925]

try your best to read that, my laptop is old and hates my very existence. I once again apologize.

 

[Libramarian]

Hit edit and replace [quote/] with [/quote]

 

[TanithT]

I was sort of trying to make a funny about mood swings due to physiology

Don't. It's a seriously abused trope, and it's annoying.